ROSIE HARDMAN

ROSIE HARDMAN

            LADY FOR TODAY CONCERT
       WITH GRAHAM COOPER
        20TH OCTOBER 2006

Rosie in 1983

Rosie in 2006

Approximately 200 excited people, friends, family and fans, gathered from far and wide - including Scotland, Germany and Canada - at a village hall in Woodford near Macclesfield on a wet Friday night for a very special occasion. After officially retiring from the music scene some 14 years ago, Rosie Hardman was to play a one off concert, accompanied on guitar and piano by an old pal of hers, Graham Cooper.

Rosie explains how the concert came about :

"Take one retired folk singer living in quiet obscurity with a secret vice - expensive handbags. Take three club organisers determined to drag her out of retirement and prove she was wrong when she said 'Never AGAIN!'. Add to this a visiting guitarist/singer friend who now lives in Portugal and just happens to be over doing some gigs and staying with said organisers (equally determined to drag her back on stage). Stir well together with a darned good lunch, amiable conversation and you can see where this is leading can't you?

The truth is, Rosie Hardman - my enfant terrible-alter-ego - got highjacked with the words 'Come and do the gig and you'll be able to buy that Gucci bag off Ebay'. Protestations that I could no longer stand up because of arthritis were met with 'We'll get you a stool'..... 'I can't play guitar any longer' with (from Graham Cooper) 'I'll come over and play for you'..... 'My throat muscles aren't in trim' with 'Practice then!'.... I tried, I REALLY tried, to resist but the vision of that Gucci bag floated before me like the serpent with the apple disguised in soft lambskin leather...

I knew I was lost when I said 'I'll think about it'. As we left Dave & Judy's that night Coop said 'Don't think about it - just DO it'. When I rang up next morning and said 'yes' the reaction was quite something to listen to!"

So, the scene was set; the journey up from Ramsgate was hell, the journey home was an equal nightmare, but the bit in the middle was just magical.

Friends told us we were mad to drive all that way, they said that after all this time we would be disappointed, we said, no way - if Rosie thinks she can do this we want to be there, so holiday was arranged and a hotel room booked, and boy did Rosie prove us right, she delivered the performance of her life.

Judy and Dave aka "Sad Pig" kicked off the evening in most enjoyable fashion with everyone joining in the singing. Then the Diva took the stage, starting singing in the wings before walking on to huge cheers.

Rosie performed classics such as Cleveland County, Eagle Over Blue Mountain, This Is For All the Ladies, Gypsy Without a Road, Jersey Island, Jamaica, Jamaica, Bridges, When He Sang Louisiana, Pride Of the River, Shame the Devil, Hands From Heaven, and It Happens All the Time. I closed my eyes for a moment and was transported back 28 years to the folk clubs of Kent, where Mike and I first met and used to go to hear Rosie sing.

I watched her sing with tears trickling down my face - tears for the words of the songs that I've loved for so many years and never thought I'd hear sung live again, for the songs I didn't already know, for the grin on her face or the tear in her eye as she sung them. We were especially delighted at what a great time Rosie obviously had too; arthritis was forgotten for a couple of hours, and her voice rang out as passionate and strong as ever.

The night was her crowning glory, and so rightfully deserved. If the cheers and standing ovations were anything to go by then who knows, maybe the lure of another handbag will prove too strong to ignore at some point in the future?

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Page last updated 23/10/06